


A Touch of the Piquant

by PurpleFluffyCat



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Age Difference, Community: rarepair_shorts, F/M, Flirting, Het, Numbers game 2018, Post-War, Severus Snape Lives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-23 11:49:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14331858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleFluffyCat/pseuds/PurpleFluffyCat
Summary: Severus first spotted her across a room packed with dullards: aninterestingwoman.





	A Touch of the Piquant

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the rarepair_shorts 'Numbers Game'. When first issued with my mystery pairings, I confess my reaction was, "...?!?" - but then, with a little time, this idea grew on me. I think of it as channelling my favourite Snape/McGonagall vibe - perhaps even more so ;-)

Severus first noticed the woman at a Ministry drinks reception. The place was odiously bespangled - both with false gold decorations, and with hangers-on who now seemed to wish to claim some heroic role in the war effort. Severus had only acquiesced to attend because Kingsley had promised him access to the Department of Mysteries in return. It was rumoured to contain some very interesting Potions ingredients. _Very_ interesting, indeed.

From across the room, the woman looked as if she might just appreciate that. Her stance was upright, despite her years, and her dark eyes spoke of intelligence. They were darting among, past and through the people with whom she seemed to be trapped in conversation, apparently scouting for some adequate reason to be in that dratted place. Severus assumed that she had seen more than one - more than _two_ \- wars; this was a woman who knew the drill.

He snaked through the crowd, picking up two neat firewhiskies on the way.

"Anaesthetic, madam?"

Her eyes opened just slightly wider at his sudden intercalation amid the group of dullards, but she didn't miss a beat. "That will do nicely."

American accent; East Coast. Not what Severus had expected. _Interesting_.

"Severus Snape. Pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Porpentina Scamander."

Severus took both her hand, and a moment to place the name.

"You may be familiar with the books of my late husband," she said in explanation, even though Severus had not voiced the question.

Yes, _Scamander._ The information fell into place, alongside all of those other do-goody tomes that he had paid very little mind. From a potioneer's perspective, magical creatures were of little value until pickled, ground or eviscerated.

"It's alright, though," she continued, with a wave of the hand and a sardonic smile. "I would never have made a good Hufflepuff."

"Is that so?" Severus lowered his voice as the other people who had been speaking to Porpentina drifted away. He leaned a little closer.

"Too headstrong." She raised a provocative eyebrow. "And rebellious."

Severus nodded, appreciating a touch of the piquant - especially here, where everything was so asinine. He also appreciated Porpentina's choice of robes: plain black, like his own. Her only apparent vanity was her hair; it was charmed black to match, and incised into a sharp black bob along her jawline.

He raised his chin a little, seeking the rebel. "I'm delighted to hear it."

Porpentina nodded as if she already knew. "Albus always spoke very highly of you."

"Not to me, he didn't." Severus snorted, to cover the fact that once more, he felt slightly off-balance. Recovering: "So, you knew the great man, I take it?" That was one thing they had in common, he supposed. Oddly, having something in common with this woman seemed to matter.

She nodded again, but this time it was softer and slower, decades and blood and trouble playing just behind her eyes. "I knew Albus well. Before he was _'the great man'_ , even. We remained good friends until he..." There came a flash of awkwardness.

"-was despatched by me," Severus finished. He could not stand euphemism and would not stand on ceremony. If the truth was going to be a problem, he might as well end the conversation, now.

But Porpentina grinned at him. It was not a defensive, harsh sort of grin, but a very real one. Again, she surprised him; Severus found that he liked it. "Yes. Thank you for doing that. It was exactly what he wanted, and few people would have dared."

Severus shrugged – and if he was a little more conscious of trying to make his movements elegant as he did so – well, what of it?

"Madam, you appear to have quite the advantage, here - of knowing much more about me than I do of you. May I enquire...?"

"Me?" Porpentina tossed her head; the gesture reminded Severus of a spirited Thestral. "Tough old Dark Wizard Catcher. Seventy-odd years in MACUSA and counting. Kingsley asked me here to train up his new recruits in American methods."

"Important work." Severus nodded. "And what, pray, are, 'American methods'?"

"Like British ones, only faster." She said it deadpan, but Severus detected the humour, there.

"I presume it's so commoditised, you get paid by the number of Dark wizards you catch per hour."

Porpentina's eyes glinted. "Touché. But yes; something like that..."

Severus took a sip of his firewhisky. She followed suit. "And how do you feel about ambiguously-Dark wizards?"

"I catch those if they step too far out of line."

"Maybe some of us would like to be caught." He said it smoothly, but felt his pulse race. He was being reckless, Severus knew - _but why not?_ After so many years of censoring his every move and thought, he relished the chance to act spontaneously; to be brazen, even. And Porpentina was a fascinating woman. 

"You intrigue me, Severus Snape," she said – locking onto his stare and his thoughts, and not letting go. Severus wondered what secrets lie behind those sharp eyes. She and he both had seen horrors, and endured. No, not just _endured_ , Severus corrected himself. They were alive and vital – and in her case, journeying half-way around the world – and had bloody well _triumphed_ over the vicissitudes that life had thrown in the way. If a person could survive all that and still be in possession of good bearing and a dry wit, that was a fine person, indeed.

"Shall we continue this conversation somewhere less..." Severus glanced at the throngs around them, "...vacuous?"

Porpentina inhaled through her nose, and looked him up and down. Severus willed himself to stay motionless, despite a sudden urge to shift from one foot to the other under her scrutiny. "You _do_ realise that I'm old enough to be your grandmother."

He basked in the pause that followed, and twisted his mouth into not-quite a smile. "Irrelevant," Severus drawled. He quirked an eyebrow at her, in challenge.

Porpentina met his gaze, and licked her lower lip. "I'm so glad that we agree."


End file.
